Star Wars HoloNet Digest #16: May 22-29, 2013

Welcome back to the Star Wars HoloNet Digest, a weekly feature where I bring you a recap of the latest news from the world of Star Wars. Whether it’s an Episode VII rumor or a noteworthy author interview, you’ll find it here. Let’s check the HoloNet and see what happened in the past week.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars, which has already been nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards and received Voice Acting Awards in the past few weeks, received more recognition in the form of a Critics’ Choice nomination for Best Animated Series last Thursday. The Clone Wars is up against fellow Cartoon Network series Adventure Time and Regular Show, along with FX’s Archer, Disney’s Phineas and Ferb, and Fox’s The Simpsons. I’ll be rooting for the Star Wars universe’s animated masterpiece to receive the award it deserves when the Critics’ Choice Television Awards ceremony airs on Monday, June 10, 2013 Congratulations to the cast and crew for the much-deserved nomination!

Speaking of Star Wars crew, longtime visual effects wizard and Industrial Light & Magic luminary John Knoll has been promoted to Chief Creative Officer of ILM. StarWars.com announced the promotion on Thursday. Knoll was instrumental in bringing the effects-laden Prequels to life on screen, and perhaps equally significantly, he also co-created a program with his brother Thomas that millions of digital artists rely on every day. You may have heard of it. It’s called Photoshop.

Celebration Europe II news is coming fast and furious these days. Lucasfilm Events Lead Mary Franklin is working like a dog to bring fans an event schedule, and you can already check out a tentative version of the Continuous Daily Program for information on activities that run throughout the convention. The Official Pix autograph website for CEII also went live this week, with pricing, schedules, and photo op information about the attending celebrities. Expect ticket pre-orders to go live soon as well.

This week also saw a CEII stage announcement. Sony sound design manager and former Lucasfilm sound editor David Collins will be heading to Germany to host CEII’s Digital Stage, as he did at Celebration VI last year in Orlando. David’s stage was the home for all sorts of technical wizardry at CVI, and I would imagine that his stage in Germany will feature an equally –– if not more –– exciting programming slate. Having seen him host several panels at last year’s convention, I can promise European fans that they are in for a great time. A former sound designer at LucasArts, Collins is both an experienced creator of Star Wars content (among many other projects, he voiced the droid PROXY in The Force Unleashed games) and an enthusiastic fan of it. Plus, his Han Solo impression is uncannily good.

Return of the Jedi celebrates its thirtieth birthday this year, and Celebration Europe II is getting in the spirit. Attendees will have the opportunity to attending an anniversary screening on the grass of a park near the convention center. The screening is free, and at that price, how can you pass up the opportunity to relive a great Star Wars film while surrounded by thousands of your fellow fans? I’ve found that nothing beats the experience of watching a movie with a large group of people who enjoy it as much as you do. The atmosphere at CEII will already be electric enough with the roster of celebrity guests (Kathleen Kennedy) and expected previews (Star Wars Rebels), but it’s important to remember and celebrate the past of Star Wars even as we look toward its future.

Eric Geller is a college student majoring in political science whose interests include technology, journalism, and of course Star Wars. He reviews The Clone Wars TV series and manages social media for Star Wars fan site TheForce.Net. He also co-hosts The ForceCast podcast. He is originally from the Washington, D.C. area.